United States Army General John Joseph Pershing visits France. General John Joseph Pershing reviews French Marine troops. General John Joseph Pershing with other officers leaves in a staff car. Policemen control a crowd. John Joseph Pershing arrives at the Gare du Nord (18 Rue de Dunkerque, 75010 Paris, France) in Paris. He poses with officers. He rides through huge crowds. He speaks to throngs from the balcony of the Hotel de Crillon (10 Pl. de la Concorde, 75008 Paris, France).
German occupation of France during World War 2. The cathedral in Reims, France. Vehicles and a few men on a road in front of the church. Trees lining the road. The railway car in which an armistice agreement was signed by Germany and the Allies at end of World War 1. The Memorial Tablet symbolic of the 1918 armistice, the Alsace-Lorraine, and Ferdinand Foch's Memorial in Compiegne Forest. Ferdinand Foch's carriage in which the first armistice was signed. In 1940 : German troops cross River Marne in rafts. A signboard showing the distances to Paris and Soissons. Another signboard showing the distances to Grand Fitz James and Paris. Troops on tanks moving on roads. A signboard shows distances to Pontarme and Paris. A soldier with a gun on his back. Soldiers moving with carriages on a path between fields. Trees lining the path. German troops moving on tanks advancing deeper into France. The troops on the road in front of the castle in Versailles. The German flag hoisted on a flag pole over the Palace of Versailles and German soldiers occupy the Palace of Versailles.
Reminders of World War 2, in France, 1945. A high bridge of about eight masonry arches with two bombed out, in mountainous region of France. Camera pans right, showing a number of substantial homes scattered across the valley, with tall mountains behind. Scene shifts to a different, flatter landscape, where about a dozen U.S. Waco CG-4A gliders are seen abandoned in a field, in various states of disrepair. Writing in chalk on the side of one glider reads, "Whispering Yoddles, Fort Worth Texas, Little One Alice". There are no D-day stripes on these gliders, indicating they were probably used subsequent to the Normandy invasion, in other operations such as "Bluebird & Dove" in the South of France, in August, 1944.
Normal life of civilians resume after German surrender in some parts of France during World War II. Aerial view of flak in sky. Close-up view of two U.S. Army Air Force B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft in flight. (Narrator incorrectly states they are British Lancaster bomber aircraft.) View from bomb bay doors of bombs away shot as the B-25 bomber aircraft drop bombs on U-boat pens at Brest. Explosions and smoke rise. The aircraft drop bombs over ground installation over enemy area. Canadian soldier scenes: Troops advance through a burning coastal town in France. Buildings collapsing and gunfire in streets. Smoke rising. Ruins of destroyed French town are seen. Allied Army tanks advance and fire artillery. German prisoners of war from Wehrmacht 7th and 15th armies being marched under watch by Canadian forces. Among the German prisoners is a 13 year old Russian boy who was forced to work by the Nazis. German prisoners in a soup line and seen drinking from mugs. Some appear to be very young boy soldiers. U.S. Army soldiers in Le Mans: American soldiers are welcomed by civilians of France. Happy French civilians waving to U.S. forces including a happy young woman who runs forward and pats a U.S. Army tank with her hand. Men and women collaborationists who assisted the Germans are rounded up by French and marched away. U.S. Army soldiers seated at stools in a French bar drink as the bar maid pours more into their glasses. French civilians line up at shops and groceries to buy food and goods in Le Mans. Pictures of General De Gaulle for sale. American women in U.S. Army uniforms (possibly nurses or Womens Army Corps WAC members) look in shop windows at French fashions. Voting cards: U.S. Army troops read pamphlets that read "requirement of soldiers to vote" and "Soldiers Voting". The U.S. Army GI's receive and mail postcards to their homes requesting absentee voting ballots for the upcoming November 1944 election. The soldiers line up to secure their application cards for absentee ballots.
Two landmarks in France: Grounds of La Cour des Adieux at the he Château de Fontainebleau in France. Wide view of various buildings on the courtyard. Horseshoe staircase seen at Cour des Adieux (also known as the Cour d'Honneur). A few people walking on the grounds. Scene changes to Versailles, France, and various buildings on grounds of the Palace of Versailles. A few pedestrians walking on the grounds of the Palace. Next view is looking toward Apollo Fountain and onward toward the Palace, inside the Palace garden at Versailles. A man seated in a horse-drawn carriage. Several carriages on grounds. A man and woman pass on road between rows of trees on garden grounds. (Amateur home movie.)
French President Albert Lebrun's son, Jean Lebrun, marries a tennis player in Rambouillet, France. People gather outside the Rambouillet City Hall (2 Pl. de la Libération, 78120 Rambouillet, France). A man greets a woman. Photographers take pictures of the bride and groom. President Lebrun with his son and the bride. Guards and minister walk out of the Église Saint-Lubin-et-Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church (Pl. Jeanne d'Arc, 78120 Rambouillet, France) after the wedding ceremony. The newlywed couple poses. President Lebrun with his wife, Marguerite Lebrun.
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